SABI NAIJA BLOG: Update on St. Louis teenage shooting

The shooting of an 18 year old teenage boy by a police in Ferguson,St. Louis county, Missouri, has caused an outrage in the African american community in US. STL Today reports on Saturday afternoon a Ferguson police officer shot 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Micheal brown, a recent high school graduate was walking to his grandmother's house when he was shot severally by a Ferguson police officer. According to relatives of brown and some eyewitnesses, the deceased was unarmed and had raised his hands in surrender before the police officer fired his gun.

Now the St. Louis police department has released a statement on the shooting through its chief, Jon Belmar, adding a new twist to the entire story. The incident occurred just after noon on Saturday august 9th, an officer in a patrol car had approached Mr. Brown and another man. As the officer began to leave his vehicle, one of the men pushed the officer back into the car and “physically assaulted” him.

Jon Belmar

A struggle occurred “over the officer’s weapon,” and at least one shot was fired inside the car. The two left the car, and the officer shot Mr. Brown about 35 feet away from the vehicle. Several shots were fired from the officer’s weapon.

The police officer who shot brown was not named but he has been in the force for 6 years and will be thoroughly interviewed by detectives this week. The shooting sparked riots and protests and over a hundred policemen had to be deployed to contain them.